1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an emergency stop control system for a mobile robot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Being used to do human work, robots are frequently present in the same working environment as human beings. The robot's working environment also includes various objects, such as structures, equipment and machinery. Because of this, there is constantly a possibility of a robot colliding with humans and objects in its working environment. When such a collision occurs or is likely to occur, the robot's operations have to be stopped immediately. Technology for this purpose, i.e. robot emergency stop control technology, is set out in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 57(1987)-75794 and 63(1988)-221994. The former of these teaches a system which stops the robot's operation in response to an audio emergency stop command, while the later teaches a system for lowering the current through the robot's drive motors to below the current control limit value of the servo drivers so as to smoothly stop the drive motors and cushion the impact on the robot.
These prior art technologies relate to the stopping of stationary industrial robots, however. Emergency stop control of autonomous mobile robots is a wholly different matter.